Studio Design – No Mixing Console Required

Posted on August 24, 2010 by

In this blog post I will show a modern studio setup that doesn’t require a mixing console.

Building a studio from the ground up over the past couple of years not only gave me the opportunity create a custom design, but also to reconsider my equipment and ways to improve the layout. With a space smaller than a typical commercial studio, maximizing every inch was crucial. The studio we designed takes advantage of many great modern-day components including several that sit on the desk, along with the classic studio mainstays of analog equipment in the racks including pre-amps, compressors, interfaces, and effects processors. The one large piece to this design puzzle that didn’t fit was a mixing console. I had to have a mixing console, right? All studios require them, don’t they? The more I thought about this the more convinced I became that a mixer just wasn’t necessary. And besides, I didn’t want to give up the desk space. With a lot of head scratching and some research we came up with a plan that would use a combination of standard 1/4 inch TRS and XLR patch bays in the rack which would give us all of the routing flexibility we needed and an easy way to get around.

The key component I found to replace the mixing console was the the XLR patch bay. This was something that I hadn’t ever seen before, but was thrilled to learn that they exist. The unit I’m using is a Hosa PDR-369 . This takes the 12 XLR inputs from my snake one the back side and allows me to patch them through on the front to a Neutrik NYS-SPP-L 1/4 inch patch bay. I/O from the interface, pre-amps and effect processors are set up in the rear of the Neutrik patch bay so it’s just a matter of patching the correct channel from the snake to the pre-amp of choice and then to the interface input on the front. Patch bays require cables. Lots of them. I purchased mine in volume through monoprice.com. They are good quality cables and their prices are really low. An even better option would be to make your own cables.


The most difficult part of this arrangement was coming up with a sensible patch bay scheme. Here’s how it worked out;

This shows the basic setup of the patch bays. This allows complete flexibility to patch any input from the snake into any preamp and patch additional outboard processing into the chain.

This TRS patch bay is pre-configured in “half-normalled” mode with the normalled circuit in the back and a grey or white jack in the front that breaks the normallled connection when a plug is inserted. This turns it into “Isolated” or “Thru” mode.   Because this setup uses isolated mode by default it made more sense to flip the PCB boards for each channel. This means that inputs and outputs patched into the back would now be mirrored in the front with no “normal” circuits. This allows for the greatest amount of flexibility between components and safely eliminates the possibility of feedback loops that could damage equipment. Having complete control through front panel access is key to the flexibility of a setup like this one.

***There is one important precaution with this setup. Pulling live cables and mics can cause damage to microphones and equipment so it’s always best to turn off  phantom power and control room monitors when making patch changes.

 

Getting back to the desktop, I employ a few very useful components that I like to have within easy reach at all times. First is a Presonus Central Station. Using this Central Station with the CSR-1 Remote, I have instant access to levels, speaker switching, input switching and a talk back mic. The remote is about the size of my hand. I also keep a Frontier Design Tranzport on the desk for easy transport controls, scrolling etc… also about the size of my hand. In addition, there’s an Apogee Duet, Countour Design Shuttle Pro (for Final Cut Pro) and an M-Audio Axiom 49 keyboard controller all within inches. But most importantly, my computer keyboard and mouse are sitting squarely and ergonomically in front of me. Operating “in the box” and having the keyboard and mouse in a comfortable position makes the process run faster and smoother, especially over time.

So far this arrangement has worked out great. At some point we may need a second patch bay that operates in a more traditional fashion with normalled connections, but as of today this setup has really served us well.

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Mixing Techniques – Utilizing sends

Posted on July 30, 2010 by

Utilizing the sends in your DAW can really help you to achieve a great mix and take some of the pressure off of your CPU in the process. My favorite use of sends is for applying a single effect to a group of tracks. Drums or background vocals are great candidates for this. These track groups will generally have a similar sound and space within the mix so sending them all to one single instance of say a reverb or delay on a bus can help to glue together the overall sound of the track group, and save your CPU a lot of work.

The example below uses the drum tracks from a recent project. There were seven mics used on the kit including a matching stereo pair of overheads, hi hat, snare drum (top), bass drum and a room mic. Since I’m trying to give the drums their own space, I found just the right reverb setting and used the sends on each track to connect to the reverb bus. This also gives me a lot of control over the entire drum kit and easy access to make global adjustments. In this example we will add a reverb bus to a group of drum tracks and send the drums tracks to this bus. I’m using Logic Pro here but it works similarly in all DAWs.

First you’ll need use an existing bus or create a new one. In Logic, you need to activate the bus from the track send.

Let’s say you select “Bus 3″. It will now appear in the mixer view bus section. Rename that bus “Reverb” and it will now show up in the bus list as “Bus 3 (Reverb)”

Next we will patch in the Reverb on this bus. In most cases you will want to set up bus effects 100% wet and 0% dry. This way, you’re only picking up the effect and not duplicating the actual track signal through the bus.

Now send the rest of your drum tracks to the Reverb bus. You can adjust the level of each track using the knob just to the right of the send (see below). This will send more or less of your track to the Reverb bus. Also, you can make global adjustments to the overall reverb settings or amount on the Reverb bus.

That’s all there is to it. This works great for applying effects like reverbs, delays, chorus etc… You can also use this method for running parallel compression to enhance the overall sound (topic for another post).

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Ribbon vs. condenser mics on drum overheads – A comparison

Posted on July 26, 2010 by

There are so many microphone choices today and even more opinions on which types of mics work “best” for different applications. This post compares the sounds of a drum set recorded with ribbon and condenser overhead microphones.

The most common microphones we see on stage or in a studio are dynamic mics like the Shure SM57/SM58 or condenser mics like the AKG C 414. Less common are ribbon microphones. Ribbon microphones have a rich and fascinating history dating back to the 1920s and it seems that they have come back into fashion lately, especially among audio geeks. What I like most about them is their ability to capture a natural sound. Recently I purchased a pair of Apex 205 ribbon microphones. These are typical budget microphones manufactured in China. Modifying these microphones can greatly improve their sound so I purchased two high quality Ludhal transformers from K&K Audio to replace the stock transformers (more on that that process on a future post).  It was a kind of a scary procedure but ended in success. I’ve used these mics for different applications, and one that I especially liked was for drum overheads. It’s more common to see small diaphragm or large diaphragm condenser microphones in this role. Their ability to capture high frequencies well make them a great choice for grabbing the sizzle of cymbals and the snap of the sticks. With ribbon mics I find that there is less high frequency information and a roll off closer to what analog tape gives us. So I’ve been using ribbons and boosting high frequencies where needed instead of using condenser mics and pulling back higher frequencies. Both methods work great, so it’s just a matter of taste.

Below is a comparison of the modified Apex 205s vs. a pair of Nady CM90 small diaphragm condenser microphones. Disclaimer: I’m not a drummer so please excuse the sloppy drumming.

You will hear the ribbons first then the condensers. Four measures for each. EQ and compression added for the effects versions.

Here are the EQ and compression settings that I used. I used a convolution reverb on it’s own bus and settings did not change.

*The Apex 205, like most ribbon mics, picks up sound in a bi-directional figure 8 pattern, i.e. equally from both sides. The CM 90s pick up sound in a cardioid pattern, which rejects much of the sound from the back. Because of this, there will be a noticeable difference in the proximity between the two sets. I don’t believe that this makes it an uneven comparison, but we should keep it in mind.

Posted in audio, Microphones, Mixing, Recording | 4 Comments

Sharing some thoughts, ideas, and other stuff

Posted on July 20, 2010 by

Thanks for stopping by. I will be posting about music, media, technology and other fun stuff. Please enjoy and post your comments.

 

 

 

 

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How to produce a live concert video on a budget – Delivery

Posted on July 13, 2010 by

Now that your final product is complete you need to get it out to the masses. YouTube is the obvious place, but there are other great sites that host videos like Vimeo and Dailymotion. On the topic of optimizing video for best quality on YouTube there seems to be a lot of information out there, many conflicting opinions, some conspiracy theories and lots of voodoo. Here’s what I’ve used and it seems to work well.

H.264 video at original size and frame rate (29.97) with AAC audio at 48 kHz rendering to target bit rate 192 kbps. It will take YouTube a little while to do some encoding on the other end and your video will not look good at first. it was a bout 10 or 20 minutes before it playing in it’s final form.

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How to produce a live concert video on a budget – Video post production

Posted on July 13, 2010 by

This is where it all comes together. This for me is the most time consuming part by far. Staying organized and setting things up correctly from the start will be a big help. I am currently working in Final Cut Studio but I have also edited concert footage in Sony Vegas. Both are really great programs. These are the steps:

Capture video

Setup project

Import and sync video

Import final audio mixes

Camera cuts, transitions, edits…

Capture Video. If you were diligent and labeled all of your tapes, this step will be much easier. The one thing that you will need is time. Lots of it. Three or four cameras recording two hours of video each means six to eight hours of real-time capture. Before you start capturing it’s crucial to make sure that your capture settings are correct. Most importantly, if you shot widescreen you may need to capture DV “anamorphic” to avoid having your video look squished. Otherwise you’ll capture standard DV. Also be aware that it will be NTSC in the U.S. and PAL for many other countries (If you’re not sure do some research first).

Setup Project. For DV footage I set the project to “NTSC DV – 720 x 480 – 29.97 fps”. This always works for me.

Import and sync video. This step can be a little tricky. High budget productions use expensive equipment to sync cameras together with time code that many video editing software programs can read. We don’t have that luxury and will need to sync our camera shots manually. This is why I previously stressed the importance of keeping all cameras running until the tape or the show end. Otherwise you will need to re-sync every time a camera stops. The process depends on the software that you’re using, but in general you will need to find a matching point on each camera and mark it. The software will then use that point to align all video clips. In Sony Vegas you can use a great plug-in called Vasst Ultimate. In Final Cut Pro the function is built-in and you will need to mark either an in or an out point and “Make Multiclip”. Even more affordable solutions like Magix Movie Edit Pro now support multiclip video editing. If your software doesn’t support multiclip editing don’t give up. You can still stack your video tracks on the timeline and manually make your edits that way. It’s not as slick and takes a little longer, but it works.

Import Final Audio Mixes. Use the existing audio from one of the cameras to sync the final audio mixes. Zoom in close and look for transients to match up. You could also wait until the very end to fly in the final audio.

Camera cuts, transitions, edits… This is the fun part. Choose your cuts, add transitions, fades, text etc… This is where you can make the video look the way that you want. Maybe you like fast cuts with lots of action, or longer ones with slower transitions. The music may help you to make these decisions. Try out some video effects here as well. Like all effects in audio and video production, it very easy to over-use them so proceed with caution. If you’ve got a good performance, good shots and great sounding audio maybe you don’t need any effects at all. I like to use a little color correction when needed, at least to balance levels.

Once you get your video to look and sound the way that you want you’re ready to deliver it.

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How to produce a live concert video on a budget – Audio post production

Posted on July 13, 2010 by

Now that you’ve got all of your tracks captured it’s time to mix them. Here’s where your advantage comes in over most of the standard concert video clips that you’ll see on the web. The subject of mixing is far beyond the scope of any blog so I’ll assume that you’ve got some basic skills and share some of the techniques that we applied. Luckily, our bass player Mik has lots of experience recording and mixing over the years and is set up to do this at his house. So this allowed us to divide tasks. I would get straight to work editing video while Mik pulled together the audio mixes. Mik’s DAW of choice these days is Apple Logic Pro. We captured the audio in Cakewalk SONAR Producer, but since we used an external drive it was as easy as handing the drive over to Mik so he could fly the wave files into Logic. All audio was recorded at 24 bit/48kHz. Mixing 16 tracks can be done in just about any DAW these days. SONAR, Logic, Ableton Live, Cubase, Pro Tools, Studio One, etc… Including the lighter versions of these. If you have no budget for software try Audacity on PC or Mac, or If you’ve got a Mac you’ve probably already got Garage Band. These have their limitations but they can be used to mix a 16 track project. I may ask Mik to contribute some specifics to this post, but for now here are some general things to consider:

Apply panning to match the actual stage setup. Our keyboards and saxophone were on stage right and the guitars were closer to center  or left. When the visual matches the audio it makes the whole thing a little more realistic. You may still want to keep things like bass drum and bass guitar center to avoid sending too much or too little low frequency energy to one side or the other.

Check and adjust for bleed. Live tracks will often have lots of bleed from all of the other sounds on stage. This isn’t always a bad thing, but in most cases you will want to try and reduce it if possible. Often this can be accomplished with an EQ. For example, the guitar amp is bleeding through on the bass drum track. Try a high cut or low pass filter on the bass drum track. This will cut out any of the higher frequencies coming through (guitars, cymbals), and since the bass drum resides in the lower frequency range, you won’t lose much of it.

Blend some room sound in to give it a real live feel. The sound of the room can put back some of the excitement of the live vibe back into the video. It’s also nice to hear the applause after songs. We used a matched pair of mics to capture a stereo recording on two tracks through the mixing board. This is blended in to taste.

Beyond these, the standard considerations for a good mix apply. Since the captured audio tracks are raw, there is room for compression and EQ. Reverb will also need to be added. Try placing your reverb on a bus and bringing it into your individual tracks using sends. This method will apply a similar reverb to all of your tracks and “glue” the overall sound together a little more. Mastering is a consideration, but since our end goal is video for the web, extensive mastering isn’t necessary. We applied some EQ and slight limiting to control the overall mix. The overall volume was hot enough and we’re ready to bring it into the video editor.

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